From the Desk of the Pastor
In person worship Services continue to be temporarily cancelled as we abide by the policies of the State and local authorities. We will begin to work on a plan for the church reopening which hope to lessen the likelihood of exposure during services.
We will begin to meet and with careful consideration based on all factors and only reopen after we make necessary preparations and set up church guidelines, establish cleaning procedures and set up safe practices for in person worship services.. We need to be clear that whatever practices we make will not eliminate the virus. Please feel free to contact me as I would like to hear your thoughts on reopening.
Please note that on the Holy Light MBC Facebook account there is a live service at 9:00am every Sunday morning.
Finally what can we do as a body of Christ during this time that we are experiencing this physical distancing from each other.
Continue Reaching Out to One Another – Calls, Emails, texting messages
Continue praying for one another
Certainly an Opportune Time to Read Scripture and Christian literature
MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU!! BE SAFE! BE WELL!
Sermon on Proverbs 3:5-6 | God’s Keys to Success
God doesn’t measure success like we do. We know that God looks at things quite a bit differently than we do. “The LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD” (Is. 55:8).
There are various ways we measure success. A student who gets straight “A’s” is deemed a success but isn’t success really in how much he learns.. The more money an athlete earns the more successful he is, but isn’t performance really indicative of success in how well he plays. The more well-known an actor is, the more successful he is, but is acting performance is really how he performs.
Rely Upon God
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart.” The phrase “Trust in the LORD” occurs some 180 times in the Old Testament; therefore, we know it’s an important part of God’s success formula. The Hebrew word for trust expresses that sense of well-being and security which results from having something or someone in whom to place confidence. Trust pins one faith on. In the Old Testament, the reason one could have such confidence in God was the Lord’s faithfulness and trustworthiness. “Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses” (1 Ki. 8:56). “Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds” (Ps. 36:5). The idea in God’s faithfulness is that God keeps his promises. Notice what Solomon said in his prayer of dedication at the temple – “There has not failed on word of his good promise.” We can place our confidence in God, because God does not change. He is not going to be here for us one minute and forget about us the next. He is constant in his love, in his concern, in his watchfulness. “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you”‘ (Heb. 13:5). We are to trust in the Lord with all of our heart. This confidence we are to have in God should be whole-hearted. If we do not trust in God with our whole heart, we really do not trust in him at all. If we just place part of our confidence in God, we will try to solve all of our problems ourselves, instead of allowing God to play his role. We and God cannot both be in the driver’s seat of our lives – there’s room for only one there. God cannot measure success that way. Financial strength is not a measure of success – “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mk. 8:36). Fame and popularity are not a measure of success – “The world is passing away” (1 Jn. 2:17). Doing his will is what God considers successful – “He who does the will of God abides forever” (1 Jn. 2:17). Why wouldn’t we want God to be in the driver’s seat of our lives? He is the one who knows what the future holds. He is the one who truly understands what it in our best interest.
Read the Word of God
“Lean not on your own understanding.” “Understanding” refers to insight, prudence, and intelligence.
Human wisdom and understanding cannot be the standard by which we live, for human wisdom is so often faulty. “It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jer. 10:23). “We were born yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days on earth are a shadow” (Job 8:9). There is so much that man does not know – How does the sun operate? What were the dinosaurs like? What is the surface of Jupiter like?
Because man does not know much, he needs guidance, and God gives the guidance man needs in Scripture. Solomon tells us here not to lean on our own understanding. How can we do that if it’s not through reading/studying Scripture?
The Bible provides God’s guidance for life. “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation” (Ps. 119:99). “Through Your precepts I get understanding” (Ps. 119:104). “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple” (Ps. 119:130).
If we want answers to the questions of life, we need to look no further than the Bible. In the Bible, we have everything we need to know about how to live lives acceptable to God – “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). There is nothing that we absolutely need to know that the Bible does not tell us.
It’s better to invest fifteen dollars in a Bible now than twenty-five dollars an hour for a psychiatrist later.”
Are you leaning on your own understanding or are you studying the Bible to obtain God’s understanding?
Recognize the Hand of God
“In all your ways acknowledge him.”
We are to acknowledge the God’s work in our lives. God works in our lives through providence. The idea in providence is that God works in our lives through non-supernatural means. Although this idea is not well-explained in the Scriptures, the Scriptures do point to this idea. “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust'” (Matt. 5:45). “He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17).
God works in our lives today through providence. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28). The best example of providence in the Bible is the case of Joseph who was sold as a slave into Egypt but ended up saving his family from extinction – “It was not you who sent me here, but God” (Gen. 45:8).
We need to recognize the hand of God, the providence of God, at work in our lives. When things are not going the way we want them to, we may not see the hand of God, we may not know what God has in store for us. It’s after the fact that we can look back and say, “God had a hand in that.” If we recognize God’s providence at work in our lives, we’ll have reason to hope, rejoice when things aren’t going as we planned. We’ll have something to look forward to, because we know that God will work everything out.
Do you recognize the hand of God in your life?
Conclusion
God wants us to be successful. He doesn’t care about our being successful in the ways of the world, but he cares about our being successful in the way he views success. If you want to be successful God has some benefits. The bible calls it God’s favor.. 1. Favor is greater than material wealth. Proverbs 22:1 – "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold." 2. Favor is stronger than military power. Psalm 5:12 – “For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.” 3. Favor releases from bondage. Psalm 85:1 – “Lord, You have been favorable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.” 4. Spiritual wisdom leads to favor. Proverbs 14:35 – “The king’s favor is toward a wise servant, But his wrath is against him who causes shame.” 5. Doing what is right brings favor. 1 Peter 2:20 – “For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.” 6. Favor breaks the power of shame and disgrace. Luke 1:28-30 – “And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” 7. Favor brings supernatural increase and promotion. Genesis 39:21 – “But, the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” 8. Favor will give honor in the midst of adversaries. Exodus 11:3 – “And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.” 9. Favor brings prominence and preferential treatment. Esther 2:17 – “The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” 10. Favor brings recognition even when you seem the least likely to receive it. 1 Samuel 16:22 – “Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT!!
SUNDAY SCHOOL PUZZLE
CENSUS RESPONSE
I was contacted by the census specialist, please see below and if you haven’t responded please do so as it is important for our community
As I mentioned in the initial email, the response rate in the area where your church is located is below the State’s and county’s average.
We need to reach as many more households as possible so that these areas don’t miss out on their portion of the 675 billion dollars of yearly federal funding.
The response rate in your area as of 5/20/20 is only 43.4% (Final 2010 Self-Response was 56.2%) while the national average is 59.8% (74%), California 61% (68.2%), LA County 56.2% (69%), LA City is 49.6% (68%).
That’s why we need your help as a Census partner to encourage your community members to self-respond to 2020 Census.
We would like to take this opportunity to ask you to remind your members of multiple ways to self-respond to 2020 Census.
There are three ways that people can participate in the Census :
Online at www.2020Census.gov
Toll-free number
English, 844.330.2020
Spanish, 844.468.2020
Other language lines are available.
Return paper questionnaire (a small number of households will receive a paper form)